A year after Jennifer Lopez starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in 2001\u2019s The<\/p>\n
Wedding Planner and said \u201cI do\u201d to rom-coms, she charmed Ralph Fiennes\u2019s status-<\/p>\n
seeking politician as a single-mum hotel cleaner in Maid In Manhattan. But if you<\/p>\n
want to see early 2000s-era Lopez truly shine, look no further than the gruelling final<\/p>\n
act of Enough, the thriller she starred in that same year.<\/p>\n
With her face stripped of make-up and sporting an uncharacteristic pixie cut, Lopez<\/p>\n
engages in a bone-crunching physical battle with co-star Billy Campbell. It is raw, it is<\/p>\n
ugly, and it remains a movie version of JLo we rarely see: vulnerable yet undeniably<\/p>\n
lethal.<\/p>\n
This gritty performance largely flew under the radar when it hit theatres in 2002, the<\/p>\n
time the JLo phenomenon was reaching a fever pitch. That same year, along with<\/p>\n
the premiere of quintessential Cinderella story Maid In Manhattan, she gifted the<\/p>\n
world her hit third album, This is Me\u2026Then, and embarked on the first act of her<\/p>\n
longtime, headline-dominating, off-and-on romance with Ben Affleck.<\/p>\n
Having been wooed at least nine times in film \u2013 and wed four times in real life,<\/p>\n
including her most recent high-profile divorce from Affleck \u2013 Lopez is undoubtedly<\/p>\n
Hollywood\u2019s most prolific bride. However, the star has often expressed frustration at<\/p>\n
being pigeonholed as a glamorous woman perpetually in search of love.<\/p>\n
When Lopez released Enough, she wasn\u2019t just making a thriller; she was attempting<\/p>\n
a genre pivot that has become a rite of passage for rom-com queens. Much like<\/p>\n
Lopez, box-office female stars such as Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Sandra Bullock<\/p>\n
all faced industry resistance when they waded into darker waters. Enough sits in<\/p>\n
stark contrast to that \u201csweetheart\u201d narrative \u2013 and even to her upcoming Netflix<\/p>\n
project, Office Romance.<\/p>\n
Directed by the late Michael Apted, Enough follows Slim (Lopez), a waitress who<\/p>\n
must transform herself into a lean, mean fighting machine to protect herself and her<\/p>\n
daughter from her abusive husband, Mitch (Campbell). Lopez was drawn to the role<\/p>\n
because she viewed it as a female Rocky \u2013 an empowering story about finding the<\/p>\n
internal strength to change a desperate situation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To make the climactic showdown with Campbell believable, Lopez spent three<\/p>\n
months training in Krav Maga, a form of quick self-defence. She told MTV News at<\/p>\n
the time that the technique \u201clevels out the playing field between men and women<\/p>\n
where it doesn\u2019t matter how big or tall or strong you are\u201d by using an opponent\u2019s own<\/p>\n
weight and momentum against them.<\/p>\n
By combining physical preparation with emotional fortitude, Lopez wanted to give<\/p>\n
women in the audience a sense of strength. \u201cIn the movie, the circumstances are<\/p>\n
very extreme, although such fights do happen in real life,\u201d Lopez told The Christian<\/p>\n
Science Monitor. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, [the film] does have a message… No matter how bad the<\/p>\n
situation gets, you have the power to change it or to get out of it. The only person<\/p>\n
you can look to is yourself, and that\u2019s what the character does.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the film was initially met with lukewarm reviews from critics who couldn\u2019t see<\/p>\n
past her pop-star persona, it has since gained a significant cult following. Modern<\/p>\n
audiences now recognise the impressive range and physical commitment Lopez<\/p>\n
brought to the role.<\/p>\n
Despite her massive commercial success, Lopez told Elle magazine in 2023 that she<\/p>\n
has spent her career fighting to be seen as more than a maid or a housekeeper by<\/p>\n
casting agents. \u201cI want to tell the gamut of stories,\u201d she said. \u201cUplifting, empowering<\/p>\n
stories and entertaining stories, and gangster movies. I want to do everything that<\/p>\n
men do. I want to do all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Films like Enough, the 1998 thriller Out Of Sight, as well as her recent powerhouse<\/p>\n
turns in Hustlers and The Mother, are concerted efforts to prove she is capable of<\/p>\n
being more than just the love interest who needs rescuing. \u201cI think that\u2019s insulting,\u201d<\/p>\n
she told Elle, pointing out that women \u201chave been leaders of countries. We have run<\/p>\n
empires; we have done all of these things throughout history, and we should tell all<\/p>\n
of those stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t to say Lopez has turned her back on the genre that made her a household<\/p>\n
name. Her Netflix rom-com Office Romance, which teams her with Ted Lasso\u2019s Brett<\/p>\n
Goldstein, proves she still believes in the power of a good love story \u2013 as long as it\u2019s<\/p>\n
on her own terms.<\/p>\n